The 1996 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 24 March 1996 to elect the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Kurt Beck retained its majority and continued in office. Parties The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. Election result |- |colspan=8| |- ! colspan="2" | Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! Seats % |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Social Democratic Party (SPD) | align=right| 821,539 | align=right| 39.8 | align=right| 5.0 | align=right| 43 | align=right| 4 | align=right| 42.6 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | align=right| 798,166 | align=right| 38.7 | align=right| 0.0 | align=right| 41 | align=right| 1 | align=right| 40.6 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | align=right| 184,426 | align=right| 8.9 | align=right| 2.0 | align=right| 10 | align=right| 3 | align=right| 9.9 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | align=right| 142,665 | align=right| 6.9 | align=right| 0.4 | align=right| 7 | align=right| 0 | align=right| 6.9 |- ! colspan=8| |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | The Republicans (REP) | align=right| 71,499 | align=right| 3.5 | align=right| 1.4 | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left | Others | align=right| 45,431 | align=right| 2.2 | align=right| | align=right| 0 | align=right| ±0 | align=right| 0 |- ! align=right colspan=2| Total ! align=right| 2,063,726 ! align=right| 100.0 ! align=right| ! align=right| 101 ! align=right| ±0 ! align=right| |- ! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout ! align=right| ! align=right| 70.8 ! align=right| 3.1 ! align=right| ! align=right| ! align=right| |} 1996 1996 elections in Germany